Epaulet van effen zilverbrokaat en een blank knoopje met muurkroon op rode wollen of baaien bies c. 1800 - 1850

Curator: Well, doesn’t that look like something out of a costume drama? I’m getting major ‘Regency-era general’ vibes here. Editor: The "Epaulet van effen zilverbrokaat en een blank knoopje met muurkroon op rode wollen of baaien bies" is the fantastically elaborate title we've given to this object that we think was crafted somewhere between 1800 and 1850. What we're looking at is one of a pair of decorative epaulets; shoulder ornaments worn as part of a military uniform. I wonder if they ever saw active duty... Curator: You know, I think there's something so inherently theatrical about military regalia. I see in it an appeal to something larger than the person wearing them. This bit of craftsmanship seems to announce "pay attention to me", almost a sacred charge carried on their shoulders. Editor: Absolutely! These really make use of symbolic language and suggest a great amount of self-importance, don’t you think? Even the materials themselves speak to a desire to present power and prestige – the subtle sheen of the silver brocade, that singular button bearing what looks like a walled crown motif… each a calculated expression of status. And let's not ignore that eye-catching fringe—tactile yet imposing. Curator: I keep wondering what kinds of ceremonies they might have been part of and how the silver might have glimmered under candlelight. It makes me think of old family portraits and a whole universe of inherited importance. Of memories both real and fictionalized. Does that chime with what you’re seeing? Editor: It certainly does, in the sense that these objects can also be reminders of a less romantic past, of political shifts and societal hierarchies. Even something that appears so innocent carries with it all of that historical weight, all that baggage and its symbols remain culturally persistent. They are artifacts ripe for analysis. Curator: That’s so true – every thread whispers a different tale! For me, this particular epaulet evokes a melancholic beauty – almost like a fossil unearthed from some glamorous but bygone world. It speaks of parades and proclamations, of men and moments that shaped history… Editor: Agreed; after our conversation, I can no longer perceive it only as decoration. There is something quietly monumental and psychologically loaded about its mere existence. It silently witnesses how time slowly and relentlessly transforms symbols.